Bottle closure

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a decorative bottle closure having a sealing cap with a sealing ring for engaging a bottle mouth, the sealing cap being contained within a decorative cap which serves to inwardly prestress the holding ring. A tear-off strip may be formed around the decorative cap in such a position that the sealing cap is relieved of stress when the tear-off strip is removed.

United States Patent Brumme [54] BOTTLE CLOSURE [72] Inventor: Fritz Brumme, I-Iermannstrasse 7,

6096 Raunheim (Main), Germany [22] Filed: Nov. 10, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 88,295

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data [151 3,684,118 51 Aug. 15, 1972 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,432,123 11/1964 Germany ..2l5/46 A 664,890 6/1964 Italy ..2l5/4O 1,432,200 7/1964 Germany ..2l5/46 A Primary Examiner-Lloyd L. King Assistant Examiner-Thomas C. Culp, Jr. Attorney-Gordon W. Hueschen and Talivaldis Cepuritis [57] ABSTRACT J There is disclosed a decorative bottle closure having a sealing cap with a sealing ring for engaging a bottle mouth, the sealing cap being contained within a decorative cap which serves to inwardly prestress the holding ring. A tear-off strip may be formed around the decorative cap in such a position that the sealing cap is relieved of stress when the tear-off strip is removed.

6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAUS 5 I972 m m m WW y Ta M M R G 2 m M my W BOTTLE CLOSURE The present invention relates to bottle closures made from plastics material, for sealing and at the same time decorating bottles or like containers.

Such bottle caps are known in which plug-like sealing members are formed in a plastics material cap, or in which such plastics material plugs are fixed to the bottom of a bottle cap. However, unavoidable dimensional tolerances on the inside of the mouth of bottles do not always permit the bottles to be sealed in a fully tight manner. Effective sealing is obtained by plastics material sealing caps which are used in the case of bottles having crown cork mouths and which are secured behind an end glass head on the bottle mouth by a holding ring. However, such a bottle cap is securely clamped to the mouth of the bottle by the holding ring, so that it is very difficult to open the bottle and a special cap lever has to be used for this purpose.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate these disadvantages and to provide a bottle closure which reliably seals a bottle in one operation and which also has an attractive and aesthetic appearance.

According to the present invention, a decorative bottle closure made from plastics material, for sealing and at the same time decorating bottles or like containers, comprises a sealing cap pressed into the end of a decorative bottle cap so that a holding ring of the sealing cap is prestressed inwardly by the decorative sealing cap.

The holding ring is readily positioned behind the glass bead on a bottle and the decorative bottle cap provides the ring with an additional prestress such that the holding ring is securely anchored behind the glass head on the bottle mouth when the bottle stopper is applied, so that even bottles containing materials under great pressure can be tightly sealed.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a tearoff strip extends around the decorative bottle cap and is positioned such that the prestressed holding ring is relieved of stress after the tear-off strip had been removed. Furthermore, it is very advantageous if the sealing cap is located within the decorative bottle cap by an inwardly projecting boundary ring of the tear-off strip between the tear-off strip and the end of the decorative bottle cap.

This arrangement enables the bottle to be opened in a simple manner without special tools. The prestress in the reinforced holding ring of the sealing cap is relieved after the tear-off strip and the end of the bottle cap have been removed, and the bottle may be opened by lifting the sealing cap which can now be readily moved.

Advantageously, the sealing cap may be re-used if the bottle is only partially emptied, and may be pressed onto the bottle so that the bottle is again effectively sealed.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the sealing cap is provided with a metal lining of aluminum or other diffusion-resistant material. By using such a sealing cap which is pressed into the decorative bottle cap, and which prevents the contents of the bottle from diffusing outwardly, still beverages such as wine, and pressurized liquids such as beer, sparkling wine, lemonade, and the like can be effectively sealed in bottles in one operation.

The invention is further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. la shows a cylindrical decorative bottle cap,

FIG. lb is a section through a metal lining,

FIG. lcis a section through a sealing cap,

FIG. 1d is a section through a neck of a bottle,

FIG. 2 is a section through a complete bottle closure constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 3a is a view or fragmentary sectional view of a bottle securely sealed by a bottle closure constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, and

FIG. 3b is a fragmentary sectional view of the bottle and bottle closure of FIG. 3a, after a tear-off strip and the end of the bottle cap have been removed.

FIGS. la to Is illustrate an embodiment of a bottle closure constructed-in accordance with the invention, having a cylindrical decorative bottle cap 1 which is provided with a tear-off strip 2 bordered by two projecting rings 3. A cup-shaped metal lining 4 formed of, for example, aluminum is slipped onto a sealing cap 5 and into an annular groove 6. The sealing cap 5 is pressed between the end of the bottle cap 1 and the ring 3 nearest to the end of the bottle cap 1. An essential feature of the sealing cap 5 is a reinforced holding ring 7 adapted to engage behind the end glass head 8 of a bottle. The sealing cap 5 is preferably formed from a diffusion-resistant material.

FIG. 2 shows a bottle closure after complete assembly with the bottle cap 1, the sealing cap 5 and the metal lining 4, the holding ring 7 of the sealing cap 5 being prestressed by the bottle cap 1.

FIG. 3a illustrates the bottle closure tightly sealing the bottle 9.

FIG. 31) illustrates the bottle closure after the tear-off strip 2 and the end of the decorative bottle cap 1 have been removed. It will be seen that the sealing cap 5 may be used again after the bottle has been opened for the first time, although not with the same sealing effect between the holding ring 7 and the glass bead 8, since the holding ring is no longer prestressed by the decorative bottle cap 1. However, this sealing force does not have to be so great after the bottle has been opened for the first time, since any excess pressure previously present 'in the bottle has now been substantially reduced. The sealing cap is nowseated so loosely on the bottle that it may be readily'removed from the bottle manually without the use of a lever.

I claim:

1. A decorative bottle closure for sealing and at the same time decorating bottles and like containers having a head around the opening thereof, which comprises a decorative bottle cap having a closed end and a depending skirt portion surrounding the neck of said container below said bead, a sealing cap pressed into the closed end of said decorative bottle cap, and an inwardly prestressed holding ring on the inside of said sealing cap for engaging said bead, said holding ring being prestressed inwardly by said decorative bottle cap.

2. A bottle closure according to claim 1 including a tear-off strip extending around said decorative bottle cap whereby said prestressed holding means is relieved of stress when said tear-ofi' strip has been removed.

sealing cap is re-usable.

5. A bottle closure according to claim 1 including a cup-shaped metal lining on said sealing cap.

6. A bottle closure according to claim 1 wherein said sealing cap is made from a diffusion-resistant material. 

1. A decorative bottle closure for sealing and at the same time decorating bottles and like containers having a bead around the opening thereof, which comprises a decorative bottle cap having a closed end and a depending skirt portion surrounding the neck of said container below said bead, a sealing cap pressed into the closed end of said decorative bottle cap, and an inwardly prestressed holding ring on the inside of said sealing cap for engaging said bead, said holding ring being prestressed inwardly by said decorative bottle cap.
 2. A bottle closure according to claim 1 including a tear-off strip extending around said decorative bottle cap whereby said prestressed holding means is relieved of stress when said tear-off strip has been removed.
 3. A bottle closure according to claim 2 wherein said decorative bottle cap has inwardly projecting boundary ribs bounding said tear-off strip and wherein said sealing cap is located within said decorative bottle cap by one of said boundary ribs between said tear-off strip and said end of said decorative bottle cap.
 4. A bottle closure according to claim 1 wherein said sealing cap is re-usable.
 5. A bottle closure according to claim 1 including a cUp-shaped metal lining on said sealing cap.
 6. A bottle closure according to claim 1 wherein said sealing cap is made from a diffusion-resistant material. 